Here in New York, we’ve had a stretch of amazing weather. Comfortably warm during the day, chilly at night. Think jeans and fleeces, but still Birkenstocks, which let us hold on to summer for just a tiny bit longer. I feel like this drink is the cocktail version of that outfit — I’m not quite ready for a Manhattan, the… Read more »
I don’t know if it’s laziness or contentment, but it really takes a lot for me to switch up the routine these days. It’s tomato season, for instance, and every time I come home with a mini haul, I imagine grand plans for tarts and pies for dinner, but just wind up slathering mayo on good white toast, topping them… Read more »
Quick tip: When someone invites you to dinner, maybe even Thanksgiving dinner, instead of offering to bring the wine, volunteer to bring a specialty cocktail. Preferably a cocktail that forces you out of your Manhattan-and-Gin-and-Tonic cocktail rut. If it’s this time of year, the cold time of year, preferably one that is brown. Preferably one that requires you to hunt… Read more »
. I was so happy when Short Stack Editions reached out to me a few weeks ago to see if I wanted to check out their latest volume, Cucumbers. For starters, their single-ingredient, expertly-designed booklets never fail to deliver on the recipe MVP front. (I’m guessing there are a good number of people reading this who have made Pasta Con Ceci — pulled… Read more »
This might come as a surprise to you — whatwith all those love letters we’ve written to our Gin & Tonics, Dark & Stormies and Manhattans, not to mention an entire section titled “Medicine” in my first book — but we in the DALS house, as of about two years ago, are no longer cocktail-every-night folks. This does not mean… Read more »
As most of you know, the heart of my book, How to Celebrate Everything, is as much about savoring the smaller moments, about infusing meaning into the everyday, about taking a step back to make sure we’re all asking ourselves: Are we living intentionally or just racing to the finish line every single day? What I would also like to… Read more »
Those of you who follow me on instagram have already been reminded, but wanted to make the rest of you aware of the fact that DALS readers get 15% off at Mouth this week. Mouth, purveyor of independent, artisanal foods, has been a longtime partner of Dinner: A Love Story, and if you want to know why that is the… Read more »
Last Friday, Andy returned home from work, loosened his tie a bit, and staggered into the kitchen. It had been a long week for him and if I couldn’t tell by the look of exhaustion on his face when he’d left that morning, I could tell by the wine and martini emojis he was texting me from the train all… Read more »
Who: The Usual Suspects, Andy, Jenny, Phoebe, Abby What: Family Dinner When: A Saturday night in early summer Where: DALS headquarters, Suburban New York Temp: High 80s, high humidity Obstacles/Activities/Extracurriculars: N/A, see: SUMMER 10:00 AM Walk to Farmer’s Market, procure Tuscan kale, baby cabbage, and a pound of Mahi Mahi from the fish guy. (And a dozen cider doughnuts, half of… Read more »
. I live in the suburbs — land of the two-car garage, of strip malls, and of people walking around saying things like “Here take this bushel of cucumbers! They are overtaking my backyard and I don’t know what to do with them!” (This kind of complaint, of course, is filed right alongside the one about that Spicy Shrimp dish… Read more »
. We are honored to present a very special guest poster today on DALS — my dad, Steve Ward. As I have noted here before, my dad did not have the deepest (and that’s putting it kindly) repertoire when it came to dinner, but man, could he do a good, no-bake dessert. Sundaes (topped with crushed, roasted peanuts), ice cream… Read more »
During the day, you’re a minivan-driving, soccer game-refereeing, steak pre-cutting, hair-detangling, Wiggles-listening, Wubzy-watching, spit-up-wearing, school lunch-preparing, diaper genie-cursing, mac-and-cheese-making shell of your former self. After the kids go to bed, though, when it’s time to relax on the couch with a box of Mallomars, and watch some 30 Rock on DVR…who are you, exactly? Sometimes it’s hard to remember. Herewith,… Read more »
Mad Lib Valentines from Jenny and Andy.
I have a good friend named Joel. Joel has a father named Jake. (Joel also has a mother, a sister, and two brothers whose names, I swear, all begin with “J”*. But that’s another story for another day.) Jake lives Upstate. I’ve never actually met Jake, though meeting him, at this point, is a mere technicality. And that’s because Jake… Read more »
Sometimes it feels like all I accomplish in a single day is quenching my childrens’ thirst. Is it like this in your house? Is it a national emergency when you forget a freshly filled Sigg bottle for the hour-long road trip? Do you find yourself filling and refilling sippy cups and drinking glasses and thermoses all day long to the… Read more »
I’ve made it clear how much I love my 6:00 cocktail. But since most of you have only known me for six months or so, I’m not sure I’ve made it clear enough how much I love my summer vacation cocktail. It’s been tempting to relax the 6:00 rule on the Dark & Stormy since I’ve been relaxing the rules… Read more »
Dear Andy, You know how grateful I am for all you do for the family. How grateful I am for your mastery of the grill, for your patience and stamina at playtime (how did I miss both of those qualities on Parenting Skills Hand-out Day?), for your unfailingly impeccable musical taste. (I fully recognize that if it weren’t for you,… Read more »
Every morning for pretty much the last ten years, I’ve made a smoothie for breakfast. I first started making them because they seemed like a relatively painless way to get my daily allowance of fruit — fruit which, for whatever reason, I never seemed to get around to eating. But then I started to notice (imagine?) something: they made me… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
